Chronic Insomnia Affects 40 Million Americans

Do You Have Chronic Insomnia?

I occasionally suffer from a sleepless night. Usually, I can pinpoint a caffeinated drink too late in the day or a worrisome event happening the next day as the culprit for my inability to hook up easily with the sandman. According to Time magazine, some 40 million Americans suffer from chronic sleeping disorders, which we know is not great for your overall health. For these people, a good night's sleep is rare and their sleep has been disrupted for at least a month, if not longer — hence the use of the word "chronic."

I have learned that if I get up and put my anxious energy to use, I can eventually fall asleep. If you're having trouble catching your z's, here's an on-topic book to read in the wee hours of the night. Plagued by lack of sleep, journalist Patricia Morrisroe researched insomnia, from the ancient Greeks to contemporary mattress salesmen. She chronicles both her findings and her own sleepless nights in the new memoir Wide Awake. I'm not sure if it will soothe you to sleep, but am curious about your sleep habits. I definitely don't suffer from chronic insomnia, but do you?

I must say I agree with allot of you, I don't know why but when I have my xanax I sleep like a baby and sleep to much, but when I don't have it I just want to sleep and I go to bed at like 9 p.m. just laying there next thing you know I hear birds chirping and see daylight I feel hopeless and wanna scream because I am so tired, but for some reason by 10 am I sleep till about 2 or 3 p.m. but I'm restless all night i can be so tired and then 2 hours later still be laying there and feel wired.. sometimes I wonder if I will die from this no sleep trying to get off xanax but now I don't think I want to.

The options are either you have insomnia (frequently or occasionally) or no sleeping problems... what about people who have non-insomnia related sleeping problems like sleep apnea, RLS, night terrors, sleep walking, etc?
I very rarely have problems falling asleep, I do wake up numerous times in the middle of the night to pee though, no matter how little I drink at night.

The options are either you have insomnia (frequently or occasionally) or no sleeping problems... what about people who have non-insomnia related sleeping problems like sleep apnea, RLS, night terrors, sleep walking, etc? I very rarely have problems falling asleep, I do wake up numerous times in the middle of the night to pee though, no matter how little I drink at night.

As I've explained to Mama Blonde, I naturally have a cat's sleep schedule: take a couple of naps during the day, stay up all night. This, of course, doesn't bode well for functioning in the rest of the world. I'm also built to be a night owl, so I do NOT wake up cheerfully at 7 am ready to start my day. 9 times out of 10, my first thought upon waking is, "When can I take a nap today?" Sleep meds have helped, and I'm trying natural remedies as well.

Oh yeah, I've had this for years. Sometimes I just won't fall asleep at all. I'll lay in bed for 8 hours, sometimes crying because I'm just so tired, but it's hopeless. My doctor recently prescribed some sleeping pills for me and ever since I started taking them it's been wonderful. Solid 8-10 hours of sleep a night. I don't care if I'm hooked on these things or not. Sleeping feels too good for me to care.

Yes I do and doctors seem to think tht its part of my migraine disease. So for over the last 9 years that I've been getting treatment for migraine disease I've been saying I have really bad insomnia and doctors have done sleep studies and given me sleeping pills and so on. I have exercised to the brink of exhaustion and still no sleep. Nothing really works especially after the long time period that I've had insomnia.
I sincerely hope that I do not have Fatal Familial Insomnia which is a real and deadly disorder. More than half of my family on both parents sides suffer from chronic insomnia. I could get the blood test to determine if I have been cursed with the FFI gene but since there is no cure for FFI and no treatment I don't think there's any point in paying for and taking the test for it.

Yes I do and doctors seem to think tht its part of my migraine disease. So for over the last 9 years that I've been getting treatment for migraine disease I've been saying I have really bad insomnia and doctors have done sleep studies and given me sleeping pills and so on. I have exercised to the brink of exhaustion and still no sleep. Nothing really works especially after the long time period that I've had insomnia.I sincerely hope that I do not have Fatal Familial Insomnia which is a real and deadly disorder. More than half of my family on both parents sides suffer from chronic insomnia. I could get the blood test to determine if I have been cursed with the FFI gene but since there is no cure for FFI and no treatment I don't think there's any point in paying for and taking the test for it.

I have struggled with sleeping issues ever since a bad breakup six years ago. Now I'm happily married but I still take tryptophan every night and sometimes sleeping pills. It helps quite a bit but is really tough to quit...

I used to have an insomnia problem. I frequently had a hard time falling asleep, usually when I was going through more stressful times (college, anyone?) and especially if I was in a room by myself. After I got married my problems disappeared for the most part, since there was always someone sleeping next to me. He goes to bed earlier than I would if I were alone, so the regular schedule helps. Unfortunately, he's a light sleeper, so he's been sleeping worse since we got married! He also doesn't fall asleep until I'm in bed too, because he knows he will wake up when I climb in bed later, so if I stay out or up late, he suffers.

I sleep pretty well, and normally don't have problems falling asleep. I also have a night ritual where I usually wake up around 2 or 3 in the morning hot and sweaty--I eat a Popsicle to cool off, then go back to bed. :)

I have had chronic insomnia since high school. The past several years, my difficulty has not been in falling asleep so much as in staying asleep. I will wake up every night in the wee hours of the morning and lay awake in bed unable to fall back to sleep. It's awful and I haven't found a remedy that prevents this from happening.

I do, and very very sadly, sleep is usually the first, and worst, aspect of my health to suffer whenever there's a change in my mood, location, company, work, lifestyle, the weather - anything! even a positive change disrupts my sleep. the few things that have helped include working out at night so that i am exhausted, so even if i sleep 5hrs in total, it's deep sleep, and making sure i don't go to bed hungry or else i wake too early. but becoming depending on sleeping pills would be worse